NO GREAT RECONSTRUCTION 131 



stances this system must break down, and that 

 in the interest not only of agriculture, but of 

 national wealth, it is essential that such a 

 contingency should be safeguarded against. 

 Where the old method is still working- un- 

 disturbed tlie farmer is rightly satisfied. But 

 it cannot be denied that there is a very genuine 

 uneasiness at the embarrassments consequent 

 on a change of ownership. A sense of in- 

 security is entirely fatal to agricultural pros- 

 perity, and it is to relieve this anxiety so that 

 farming can be conducted with absolute assur- 

 ance that our argument has been directed. 



With more intensive methods of cultivation 

 and the gi-eater productivity which is demanded 

 from the land, " occupying ownership "is with- 

 out doubt the only form of tenure possible 

 to replace the old. The seriousness of the 

 situation lies in a prolonged tampering with 

 the old system in an endeavour to render it 

 impervious to the difficulties that have arisen. 

 As we have attempted to show, such a pro- 

 cedure as a solution of the present case can 

 only end in the elimination of the landlord's 

 interest, except as a permanent mortgage 

 charge, and in the gaining by the farmers a 



